“Success to the maximum”: the story of “Mr. USUST 2025” Ilya Senchenko

Ilya Senchenko is a modern young man who is not afraid of difficulties, silence and truth. The results of the “Miss and Mr. USUST 2025” competition have just been announced in the hall. Someone was happy, someone was surprised, someone did not hold back their emotions, and Ilya only smiled slightly – restrained, confident, as if he had long felt that this moment would come. And at the same time, it seemed that he knew: this is not the top, but another step that he calmly overcomes.

His story is not about glamour. It is about character, endurance and decisions made in silence long before anyone heard his name.

Ilya is a cadet of the Department of Military Training of Specialists of the State Special Transport Service of the Ukrainian State University of Science and Technology. Before studying, he completed military service, and at the beginning of a full-scale war he signed a contract and served in various regions of Ukraine. He talks little about the details – “not at the right time.” But in the voice you can feel the experience that forms the inner core.

Off stage, Ilya is the same: balanced, calm, attentive to the word. He himself would describe himself as “thoughtful, calm and multifaceted” – honestly, without exaggeration and without understatement.

He approached the competition in a disciplined manner. He observed, analyzed, studied the strengths and weaknesses of the participants and looked for his own tactics. It was not self-confidence, just a sober approach and work. His number in the “My Superpower” block became unexpectedly serious: a staging of the evacuation of the wounded in combat conditions. Without embellishment, without unnecessary words, just what he did in reality. The hall froze. For a moment, the beauty contest turned into a life lesson.

But behind the seriousness there is another part of his world: family, sincere, warm. Ilya is very attached to his younger sister Lisa, who lives with her parents in Konotop. They see each other infrequently, once every six months, but for him this is not a distance. He says that he loves her “more than himself”, and it is at these moments that his voice sounds different – soft, warm.

There is also something ordinary, human in it. She loves to cook and eat well, especially fried chicken and rice. She is passionate about calisthenics and street gymnastics. She says she wants to combine sports, service, and creativity – to make motivational videos, showing others that strength is in character and choice, not in circumstances.